Graters are well known in the art to come in a variety of configurations. For example, flat handheld graters generally have a single grating surface on a single panel, where the grated particulates drop from the back of the grater, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. D448,256. The user can therefore direct the grated particulates from the back of the grating panel into a storage container or onto a food item. However, open handheld graters had only a single coarseness and provided limited control of errant particulates.
To permit the user to select from a variety of different coarseness variations, box graters were developed with different grating panels on different sides of a multi-sided utensil. This allowed a user to prepare grated particulates of different coarseness, including slices of one or more thicknesses (all referred to as “grated particulates”), with just a single utensil rather than needing a variety of different graters. However, due to the placement of different grating surfaces on different panels of the box grater, these multi-sided graters take up more space than a handheld grater formed of a single panel.
There have therefore been efforts to reduce the size of multi-sided or box graters. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,312,054 and D548,549 describe multi-sided graters formed of two panels in an inverted “V” where the two panels are pivotally attached at the top and fold together to reduce the overall volume. In another version, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0006505 describes a three sided grater having a center panel connected to right and left panels by hinges, where the right and left panels can be snapped together or held in adjacent relation by a cap which can be fixed to the top of each of the panels. Unsnapping the right and left panels or removing the cap permits the three sided grater to be folded into a flat configuration.
Addressing a different aspect, graters have been adapted to include an integrated container or the like to catch the grated particulates rather than merely allowing the grated particulates to fall into an independent storage container or onto a food item. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. D389,019 and 5,312,054 describe collection containers attached to the back surface of the panel having a grating surface. With respect to U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,054, the container fits between the folded panels so that the grater can be folded and stored with the container attached to one of the panels.
However, collapsible multi-panel graters still require improvement have not been shown with two grater panels that can both be folded down to a reduced size and include an integrated container for receiving the grated particulates from all of the grater panels simultaneously.